MARKED BY THE MAFIA
Marked By The Mafia – Episode 21&22
[…BOUND BY DUTY…]
GENRE: Dark Romance
TAGS: MAFIAS, OBSESSION, POSSESSIVE, LOVE, STEAMY, LOVE TRIANGLE, EMPIRE, BETRAYAL, CRIME, VIOLENCE, DEATHS AND MANY MORE…
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✮{…THE ARENA FIGHT…}✮
He just stormed out of the room, carrying her like a wild thing needing to be caged again.
___
“Put me down, you psychotic bastard!” she snapped.
He said nothing, not a word.
Just kept walking full of anger, like he needed to put distance between her and that cursed room.
She could feel the tension radiating off him. Every muscle in his body was coiled like a predator restraining himself from snapping.
Down the hall. Up another flight of stairs.
He didn’t stop until he slammed into the bedroom.
He kicked the door open.
Then finally, he dropped her.
Not harshly but not gently either.
She landed on the bed with a bounce, hair wild, lips parted in shock.
Matteo stood over her, chest heaving. His eyes burned into hers.
“You don’t get to walk into my past like that, Aurora”
She sat up slowly, pain still throbbing in her leg from the broken glass but she didn’t cower.
“Then stop keeping me in your prison. What do you expect, Matteo? That I’ll act like your doll? Obey like one of your men?”
He scoffed bitterly. “You’re not one of them. You’re my wife”
“A wife you treat like a burden” She pushed off the bed, wincing. “I’m not scared of you anymore, Matteo”
That made him step closer.
His hand shot out not to hit, but to grab her jaw, tilting her face up roughly.
“You should be”
Aurora’s breathing grew shaky… but not from fear but from rage. From the feeling she didn’t understand, the one that made her heart pound whenever he was this close.
“Then make me” she dared.
Matteo stared at her like she’d just challenged the devil himself.
But instead of answering, he released her… and walked away.
He went straight to the bathroom, opened the medicine cabinet, and returned with a first aid box. Dropping it on the bed beside her, he pulled out a disinfectant, cotton pad, and bandage.
He knelt in front of her and grabbed her leg without a word.
Aurora flinched. “Don’t touch me”
“Too late” he muttered coldly, dabbing at the wound.
The alcohol stung like hell. She hissed.
“Damn it, Matteo!”
Still silent, he pressed the cotton harder, wrapping the bandage tightly around her ankle.
She stared down at him, fury in her eyes.
“You hurt me and still take care of the mess… You’re sick, Matteo. Really f+king sick”
He paused, just for a second.
Then his gaze lifted slowly to hers.
“Maybe”
He finished wrapping her ankle with a neat precision that irritated her. Like she was just another job to check off his long list of duties.
Still kneeling in front of her, he stood abruptly and tossed the bloodied cotton into a nearby trash bin.
“I’m tired of staying in this house all day, Matteo. Don’t make me a full housewife”
He paused by the dresser, his back to her. Shoulders stiff.
“So what do you want me to do about it?” he asked without turning.
“I want in, Matteo”
“In?” he repeated.
“Into your world. Your clan. Your empire. I don’t want to just be the wife you keep behind walls like a porcelain doll. I want to belong in your world. I want to be useful”
Matteo’s eyes hardened instantly.
“You have no idea what you’re asking for”
“I’m fully aware”
“This isn’t some fairy tale where the princess joins the mafia and everything turns out fine. You want to be one of us? We spill blood, Aurora. There’s no turning back once you step in”
She stood, wincing slightly but pushing through the pain.
“Have you forgotten who I am?” she said calmly.
“I’m a Bellanti. My father is a mafia boss and you know that. I didn’t grow up in a fairytale. I grew up watching men die in front of me. I saw blood before I saw love. So don’t you dare treat me like I’m weak”
Silence.
“Prove you’re not weak” he suddenly said.
She took a bold step forward, even with her injured leg. Her eyes locked on his like fire meeting ice.
“Give me the damn test then. I’m not afraid”
He tilted his head slightly, gaze narrowing.
“You really want to get blood on your hands, wife?”
“I already have blood on my hands,” she replied coldly. “You think I came from silk and ribbons? My hands are dirty, Matteo. You just never looked close enough”
He stepped closer.
“Joining my clan means loyalty. Pain. Obedience. No second guessing. No mercy. I don’t coddle soldiers, Piccolina. I break them to rebuild them”
“Then break me,” she said without hesitation. “But don’t keep me in a f+king cage while you burn the world”
His eyes darkened at that.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for”
She stepped closer, toe to toe now.
“Then teach me”
A beat of silence. Then two.
Without warning, he grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her face close not in a kiss, but like a warning, a threat.
His grip on her neck loosened just slightly, but his gaze never wavered.
“You want in so bad? Then fight for it”
Aurora blinked. “Fight?”
He stepped back slowly, cracking his knuckles. “We don’t hand out seats at the table like candy. You want to be part of my world? You earn it”
He moved to the door, throwing it open with force.
“You’ll fight one of my own. And if you lose… you go back to being my pretty little housewife. No second chances”
Aurora squared her shoulders. “Who?”
A smirk ghosted his lips.
“Till then”
•••
NEXT DAY, VIPER’S SUITE*
The pain returned before the light did.
A slow, burning throb down her spine… her shoulders… her legs.
Her skin felt too tight, every breath like swallowing razors. The sheets beneath her were damp blood or sweat, she couldn’t tell.
Then came the light.
Faint at first, then sharper.
She blinked hard, lashes sticky and the ceiling came into view.
She turned her head and that was a mistake because pain screamed through her neck like fire licking bone.
“F+k…” she croaked.
“Easy” a low voice murmured from the chair nearby.
Her gaze landed on him… Storm.
Still in that same hoodie, now crusted with dried blood… her blood.
He hadn’t moved.
Not even to clean himself.
Her throat burned, but her words came out just fine. Cold, dry and acidic.
“What the hell are you still doing here?”
“You passed out. I brought you here”
“No sh*t, Sherlock” She tried to sit up but winced, her back felt like it had been flayed open, which, of course, it had.
“Don’t,” he said, standing up slowly. “You’re not healed”
“I’m not weak either” She pushed through the pain and sat up with a grimace, hair clinging to her sweat-slicked skin.
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Storm just stood there, unmoving.
“You think you’re some silent protector now? You got a savior complex or what?”
Still no answer and she scoffed bitterly.
“Go play babysitter somewhere else. I’m not your f+king charity case”
Storm’s jaw clenched. “I didn’t stay for charity”
“Then what? Pity? Guilt? Did you enjoy watching them break me?”
His eyes darkened, just slightly.
“I stayed because no one else did” Her lip curled.
“Congratulations. You get a gold star. Now get out”
Storm stared at her for a beat too long, like he was trying to figure out if she truly meant it.
But of course she did.
Viper wasn’t one to beg, wasn’t one to lean, wasn’t one to let anyone carry her scars but herself.
He nodded once.
Then turned and walked toward the door without another word.
She watched him go, chest heaving with pain and hate and something else that felt dangerously close to sorrow.
The door clicked shut behind him.
And finally… finally, Viper let her face crumble.
Not into tears.
Never.
But into fury.
A silent, seething rage under her breath as she stared at the wall, the memories of the lashes still echoing across her bones.
This wasn’t over.
Not by a long f+king shot.
•••
TWO HOURS LATER, ARENA*
The heavy doors of the arena creaked open.
Aurora stepped in, the rest of the clan were present already.
Only VIXEN was absent.
They all acknowledged Aurora with a respectful tilt of their heads, not as an intruder but as the Boss’ Wife.
Matteo appeared behind her, steps echoing with power. He walked past her without a word and turned to face his people.
“She wants in”
A few smirks. One or two scoffs. Sylvia raised a brow and Blade whistled low.
Matteo’s gaze hardened.
“She wants to earn her place in this clan. I’m not giving it to her”
He looked at Rosa.
“A fight. You and her”
Rosa tied her last knot and smiled softly.
“With pleasure”
Viper arched a brow. “She’s going to get slaughtered”
Blade chuckled darkly. “At least it’ll be entertaining”
Rosa tilted her head. “You sure about this, boss?”
She didn’t look at Matteo. Her eyes were locked on Aurora.
Matteo’s voice cut through the tension. “Begin”
Rosa struck first and fast.
She spun, slashed, and moved elegantly. Aurora dodged narrowly, backing up as Rosa’s blade cut the air inches from her face.
“She’s just dodging,” Axe grunted. “No skill”
Then Rosa caught her.
A shallow cut across Aurora’s arm, blood bloomed.
The clan roared.
Rosa smiled, smug and merciless. “Thought being the boss’ wife makes you untouchable?”
Another slash.
Aurora ducked. Slid across the concrete and spun back to her feet.
Then she changed.
No more defense, she moved.
A brutal elbow to Rosa’s ribs, a twist of her wrist and her blade dropped.
“What the hell—” Blade muttered.
Rosa lunged again, but Aurora blocked it mid-air, then flipped Rosa over her shoulder. She slammed into the ground with a sickening thud.
Silence.
Aurora didn’t stop.
She straddled Rosa, fists raining down with controlled fury.
Rosa managed to shove her off, just barely, rolling to her knees.
But then Aurora did something none of them expected.
She leapt forward, grabbed Rosa’s arm mid-motion, twisted it into a lock… and snapped her wrist back with a pop.
Rosa screamed.
Viper’s eyes widened. “What the—”
Aurora whispered against Rosa’s ear: “Never underestimate the woman beside a king”
Then she spun back, sweeping Rosa’s legs from under her and placing her boot against her throat.
“Yield” she snarled.
Blood dripped from her temple, her knuckles were bruised but her stance was dominant.
Rosa didn’t move.
“YIELD!” Aurora roared.
The echo bounced off the concrete like a war cry.
Rosa panted. “I… yield”
The clan didn’t speak.
Scarlett’s mouth parted.
Sylvia’s fingers froze mid-typing.
Even Axe… blinked.
Only Blade broke the silence.
“…She’s one of us”
And Matteo?
He smiled.
Slow.
Dark.
Proud.
Like a predator watching his queen draw first blood.
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TBC😈
